How Response Files Work

You can automate the installation and configuration of Oracle software, either fully or partially, by specifying a response file when you start Oracle Universal Installer. Oracle Universal Installer uses the values contained in the response file to provide answers to some or all of Oracle Universal Installer prompts:

Typically, Oracle Universal Installer runs in interactive mode, which means that it prompts you to provide information in graphical user interface (GUI) screens. When you use response files to provide this information, you run Oracle Universal Installer at a command prompt using either of the following modes:

Silent mode

If you include responses for all of the prompts in the response file and specify the -silent option when starting Oracle Universal Installer, then Oracle Universal Installer runs in silent mode. During a silent-mode installation, Oracle Universal Installer does not display any screens. Instead, it displays progress information in the terminal that you used to start it.

Noninteractive (or suppressed) mode

If you include responses for some or all of the prompts in the response file and omit the -silent option, then Oracle Universal Installer runs in suppressed mode. During a suppressed-mode installation, Oracle Universal Installer displays only the screens for which you did not specify all required information. You can also use variables in the response file or command-line options to suppress other installer screens, such as the Welcome screen or Summary screen, that do not prompt for information.

You define the settings for a silent or noninteractive installation by entering values for the variables listed in the response file. For instance, to specify the Oracle home name, you would supply the appropriate value for the ORACLE_HOME_NAME variable, as in the following example:

ORACLE_HOME_NAME="OraCLHome1"

Another way of specifying the response file's variable settings is to pass them as command line arguments when you run Oracle Universal Installer. For example:

Reasons for Using Silent Mode or Noninteractive Mode

The following table describes some reasons why you might want to run Oracle Universal Installer in silent mode or suppressed mode.

Mode

Uses

Silent

Use silent mode if you want to:

Complete an unattended installation, which you might schedule using operating system utilities such as at

Complete several similar installations on multiple systems without user interaction

Install the software on a system that does not support a GUI

Oracle Universal Installer displays progress information in the terminal that you used to start it, but it does not display any Oracle Universal Installer screens.

Suppressed (noninteractive)

Use suppressed mode if you want to complete similar Oracle software installations on multiple systems, providing default answers to some, but not all Oracle Universal Installer prompts.

If you do not specify information required for a particular Installer screen in the response file, then Oracle Universal Installer displays that screen. It suppresses screens for which you have provided all the required information.

General Procedure for Using Response Files

The following are the general steps to install and configure Oracle products using Oracle Universal Installer in silent or suppressed mode:

Note:

You must complete all required preinstallation tasks on a system before you run Oracle Universal Installer in silent or suppressed mode.

Prepare a response file.

Run Oracle Universal Installer in silent or suppressed mode.

These steps are described in the following sections.

Creating the oraInst.loc File

If you plan to install Oracle products using Oracle Universal Installer in silent or suppressed mode, then you must manually create the oraInst.loc file if it does not exist. This file specifies the location of the Oracle Inventory directory where Oracle Universal Installer creates the inventory of Oracle products installed on the system.

Note:

If Oracle software has been installed previously on the system, then the oraInst.loc file may exist. The oraInst.loc file is present at /var/opt/oracle/oraInst.loc. If the file exists, then you must not create a file.

To create the oraInst.loc file, follow these steps:

Switch user to root:

$ su - root

Change directory as follows:

# cd /var/opt/oracle/

Use a text editor to create the oraInst.loc file, containing the following lines:

inventory_loc=ORACLE_BASE/oraInventory
inst_group=

In this example, ORACLE_BASE is the path of the Oracle base directory, for example, /01/app/oracle.

Enter the following commands to set the appropriate owner, group, and permissions on the oraInst.loc file:

# chown oracle:oinstall oraInst.loc
# chmod 664 oraInst.loc

Preparing a Response File

This section describes the following methods to prepare a response file for use during silent-mode or suppressed-mode installations:

Copy the response file from the response file directory to a directory on your system:

$ cp /directory_path/response/response_file.rsp local_directory

In this example, directory_path is the path to the client directory on the installation media. If you have copied the software to a hard drive, then you can edit the file in the response directory if you prefer.

Open the response file in a text editor:

$ vi /local_dir/response_file.rsp

In addition to editing settings specific to the Oracle Database installation, check that the FROM_LOCATION path is correct and points to the products.xml file in the stage directory in the installation media. You may want to set this variable to point to an absolute path, for example:

FROM_LOCATION="/directory_path/stage/products.xml"

Remember that you can specify sensitive information, such as passwords, at the command line rather than within the response file. "How Response Files Work" explains this method.

Oracle Universal Installer or configuration assistant fails if you do not correctly configure the response file. Refer to the "Silent-Mode Response File Error Handling" section for more information about troubleshooting a failed silent-mode installation.

Recording a Response File

You can use Oracle Universal Installer in interactive mode to record a response file, which you can edit and then use to complete silent-mode or suppressed-mode installations. This method is useful for custom or software-only installations.

When you record the response file, you can either complete the installation, or you can exit from Oracle Universal Installer on the Summary page, before it starts to copy the software to the system.

If you use record mode during a noninteractive mode installation, then Oracle Universal Installer records the variable values that were specified in the original source response file into the new response file.

Note:

You cannot use record mode to create a response file during an installation that uses the Basic installation method.

When you run Oracle Universal Installer to record a response file, it checks the system to verify that it meets the requirements to install the software. For this reason, Oracle recommends that you complete all of the required preinstallation tasks and record the response file while completing an installation.

If you have not installed Oracle software on this system previously, create the oraInst.loc file, as described in the previous section.

Ensure that the Oracle software owner user (typically oracle) has permissions to create or write to the Oracle home path that you specify when you run Oracle Universal Installer.

To record a response file, enter a command similar to the following to start Oracle Universal Installer:

Note:

Do not specify a relative path to the response file. If you specify a relative path, then Oracle Universal Installer fails.

directory_path is the path of the client directory on the DVD or the path of the Disk1 directory on the hard drive.

The -record parameter specifies that the responses that you enter in a response file must be recorded.

response_filename is the full path and file name of the response file that must be recorded.

On each Oracle Universal Installer screen, specify the required information.

When Oracle Universal Installer displays the Summary screen, perform one of the following actions:

Click Install to create the response file, then continue with the installation.

Click Cancel and then Yes to create the response file but exit from Oracle Universal Installer without installing the software.

The response file is saved in the location that you specified using the -destinationFile option.

If you do not complete the installation, then delete the Oracle home directory that Oracle Universal Installer created using the path you specified on the Specify File Locations screen.

Before using the recorded response file on another system, edit the file and make any required changes.

Use the instructions in the file as a guide when editing it.

Running Oracle Universal Installer Using a Response File

Now, you are ready to run Oracle Universal Installer at the command line, specifying the response file you created, to perform the installation. The Oracle Universal Installer executable, runInstaller, provides several options. For help information on the full set of these options, run setup.exe with the -help option, for example: